Issey Miyake
| Description | Fashion and Fabric Designer |
| Dates | 22 April 1938 - present |
| Lived/Worked | Tokyo, Paris, New York |
Best known for...
Pleats Please Issey Miyake, collection of clothes swelled by the wind, swirling gently: whoever slips their arms into these clothes and pulls the over their body feels the soft caress of the parallel pleats on their skin, and sees their body take on magnificent outlines.
Bodyworks, Issey Miyake A-ŪN, this style was part of the spring/ summer collection 1982 and was a perfect example of what Miyake wanted to show: his profound interest in the body, and in the complimentary and yet oppositional relationship existing between body and clothes.
Issey Miyake Making Things, the A-POC clothes consist of a long tube of jersey from which one could cut, without wasting any material, a large variety of different clothes. Miyake's objective was indeed to limit waste to a minimum during the production process, and to treat all left-over material so that it could be used again in a new product.
Why is he/she important?
Right from his first collections, conceived at the beginning of the 70s, there has always been an experimental element to Issey Miyake's work, and his investigations into new materials, natural and synthetic. Miyake has worked at the intersection of art and fashion, nature and technology, innovation and tradition and, notably, East and West. High-tech fibers are an obsession, but nature is an inspiration. He has used experimental materials such as nylon monofilament and molded silicone, but also traditional wares such as aburagami (an oil-soaked Japanese handmade paper used for umbrellas) and sashiko (a method of cotton quilting). He makes clothes that might seem unwearable without instructions (he once decided to turn a garment inside-out during a final fitting). This makes him into a unique designer.
Historical context
Issey Miyake is a contemporer designer who live in the 21st century. Most of his works are stimulated by the work of living artist, such as Isamu Noguchi, Irving Penn, Lucie Rie, Robert Rauschenberg, Akira Kurosawa, Shiro Kurumata,etc. Miyake mentioned that he has two great teacher in his life: Isamu Noguchi and Irving Penn. In the interview with Herve Chandes, Issey Miyake said," The designers who will be remembered next century will be those who have created some kind of fundamental form, like Chanel, Poiret or Vionnet. I would be very happy if it was said of me that I had provided some keys to the 21st century.
The evolution of Issey Miyake's work falls into five distinc periods: the 60s, the 70s, 1980-88, 1989-93, 1994-98. There is also a key event: May 1968 for the 60s, A piece of Cloth, or East Meets West for the 70s, etc.
How to see their work
The easiest way to see some of the Miyake's collection is by drop by in Issey Miyake's boutique in London. There are two Miyake's boutique in London, which located at 52 Conduit Street, London W1S 2YX; and at 270 Brompton Road, London SW3 2AW. Miyake's collection for man can be easily found in the major department store, such as Selfridge & Co., Harrods, and Harvey Nichols.
Issey Miyake's collection was once exhibited in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, on 18 October 2001 - 6 January 2002. and on May 2001 for Pleats Please Issey Miyake. This display in the Spotlight Space in the main entrance features Issey Miyake's most recent creations in his celebrated and continuously evolving Pleats Please line.
Issey Miyake on the web
Issey Miyake by Naoki Takizawa - This website not only explore about Issey Miyake fashion collection, but also explore the web design style which successfully enhance the creation of Issey Miyake's.
Pleats Please - The website only gives information of Issey Miyake's major boutique in the world. Though the website does not provide much information, it provides the experience of Pleats Please Issey Miyake through four dimensional media.
V&A Collections - V&A Museum is very active exhibit the work of contemporer fashion designers. Issey Miyake was once took part of the exhibition at V&A. This website shows the example of Miyake's work for the exhibition, including the video of the fashion show.
See also...
William Forsythe: The Pleats was the principal element of the Issey Miyake collection of 1988. At that point in his research, Issey Miyake's encounter with William Forsythe and the Frankfurt Ballet was decisive: the variations in body shape and dancing style of the dancers fascinated Miyake and the idea was to demonstrate all the specific advantages of the material from Pleats by making lineweight costumes which would be able, spontaneously, to recover their original shape, and in which the dancers would be able to jump, to fly.
Cai Guo-Qiang: In a perfomance entitled Dragon- Explosion on Pleats Please Issey Miyake, held on 5 October 1998 at the Foundation Cartier, Cai Guo-Qiang set light to trail of powder which took just a few seconds to traverse the items of clothing arranged on the ground in the form of a dragon, the Chinese symbol of life.
Isamu Noguchi: He is the man who had made Issey Miyake think about "the true essence of the West, of the East, and of Japan." In June 1997, an exhibition entitled Isamu Noguchi & Issey Miyake was held. At the entrance to the hall, a group of mannequins, dressed by Miyake in such a way as to recall Arizona, welcomed visitors. The works by Noguchi were taken from the Akari lamp series and included playground equipment and bronze scultures. The combination on these works with Miyake's Pleats, shown in two or three dimensions, created a poetic atmosphere.